The brand new metro line 16 is part of a huge multibillion-euro expansion of the Paris metro network.

Line 16 will run from Saint-Denis on the northern edge of Paris, the site of the Athletes Village and the Stade de France stadium, to the suburb of Le Bourget, which will host the press centre.

The line will connect some of the capital's poorest suburbs to a metro line for the first time.

French President Emmanuel Macron had promised that the first section would be ready in time for the Olympics.

Jean-François Monteils, the head of the Grand Paris Express, has now confirmed construction was running behind schedule and would not be completed in time.

Delays, partly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, mean the first section of line 16 will not be ready until 2026.

Monteils cited the removal of asbestos from the Aulnay-sous-Bois depot site and the difficulty of getting technicians from Germany to maintain the tunnel-boring machines during the lockdown as issues the project has had to deal with. 

The work site was shut down for six months after the death of a worker at Christmas. 

Four automatic lines, covering a total of some 200 kilometres, are being added to France's 14-line metro network to better connect the suburbs with the city.

Monteils assured that all the work would be completed.

"We have started everything and will finish everything," he said.